Latest news with #waitingtime
CTV News
5 days ago
- Automotive
- CTV News
Winnipeg man learns curb repair will take 20 years
Winnipeg Watch A Winnipeg man learned he will be waiting two decades for a damaged curb near his driveway to be repaired. Jeff Keele explains.
Independent Singapore
13-07-2025
- Independent Singapore
McDonald's apologises after customer waits 48 mins order and faces "frightening" manager
SINGAPORE: McDonald's Singapore has issued an apology after a customer complained about an unusually long wait time and an unpleasant exchange with a manager at its Hougang 1 outlet. Mr Tay, who shared his experience with citizen journalism platform Stomp, said he had placed a takeaway order at the restaurant at 10.28pm on June 7. Despite initially waiting patiently, he only received his food at 11.16pm—48 minutes later. According to Mr Tay, the store was busy when he arrived, so he did not mind waiting at first. However, by 10.55pm, he noticed that other customers who had ordered around the same time were already leaving. 'I asked an auntie at the counter about it. She told me to wait for my order as it was still being prepared,' Mr Tay told Stomp, 'After 10 minutes, I asked her again. She told me to wait.' When his order was eventually ready close to 11.16pm, Mr Tay requested to speak to the duty manager to understand the delay. What followed, he said, was an unpleasant encounter. 'The auntie told him about it, but he turned his head, ignored me and carried on doing his things,' Mr Tay wrote in his feedback to McDonald's, 'After that, the auntie called him again, and he unwillingly came to the counter.' Mr Tay alleged that the manager's demeanour quickly turned confrontational when he asked why the food had taken so long. 'He immediately started with a rude attitude, opening his eyes wide and talking like a gangster,' Mr Tay claimed, 'He challenged me and asked why I couldn't see that the store was busy—are the kitchen staff dancing? He also asked if I wanted to refund my order.' Mr Tay, who said he had ordered the meal for a family birthday, declined the refund. He also expressed shock when the manager suggested he was being disrespectful. 'I asked him why he was so rude. He told me that I did not give him 'face' in front of other customers and staff. I was so surprised as I just wanted to know why it took so long,' Mr Tay said. When Mr Tay asked for the manager's name to file a complaint, the situation escalated further. 'He threw his name tag on the desk. When I wanted to take a picture of it, he timidly snatched it back and asked me to take a photo of the 'shift manager on duty',' Mr Tay recounted, 'It was definitely a forgotten order and the manager was not apologetic at all.' In his feedback, Mr Tay described the manager's behaviour as 'frightening' and said the entire episode left him 'a very disappointed customer'. McDonald's Singapore has since apologised over the episode. A spokesperson told Stomp, 'We're sorry to hear about what happened and have since reached out to make things right. Consistent service matters to us, and we've taken steps—including reinforcing training with our team—to help prevent this from happening again.' Mr Tay later confirmed that McDonald's had contacted him, apologised, and refunded the cost of the meal. Reflecting on the outcome, he said: 'Social media power is very fantastic.'
Irish Times
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
Three driving test centres reach 10-week waiting time target after years of increases
Three driving test centres have reached the waiting time target of 10 weeks or less as 51 of the State's 57 car test centres showed improved timelines after years of increases. Carlow town had a waiting time of 10 weeks, while it fell to nine weeks in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim and Tuam in the Galway East constituency of Minister of State for Transport Seán Canney. The Road Safety Authority (RSA) figures show Dublin had the biggest decrease of 11 weeks. Waiting times in Finglas fell from 25 weeks to 14 while the Maple House, Mulhuddart test centre saw a drop from 22 to 11 weeks. Improvements varied from 11 weeks to one. Tallaght, Co Dublin has the longest waiting time at 33 weeks or eight months, despite a three-week fall. READ MORE Four centres showed an eight-week decrease, including Letterkenny, Co Donegal where waiting times fell from 21 to 13 weeks; Longford (27 weeks to 19); Sligo (19 weeks to 11); and Wicklow (25 weeks to 17). Waiting times increased however in Charlestown, Co Dublin from nine weeks to 16, from 18 weeks to 20 in Ennis, Co Clare and by one week in Dungarvan, Co Waterford from 22 weeks to 23. In May, Mr Canney instructed the RSA to devise a plan to reach the 10-week timeline for all test centres by September after he criticised 'unacceptable' delays of up to 10 months. [ People trying to book a driving test facing 'ridiculous' wait to log in ] Funding was provided for the recruitment of an additional 70 tester drivers. The changes were calculated from the end of May to end of June when the average waiting time fell from 27 weeks to 18 weeks. Dún Laoghaire initially saw a drop from 23 weeks to 13 but it rose again by the end of June to 21 weeks. Waiting times fell in Ballina, Co Mayo from 17 weeks to 10 but increased again to 17, showing no change overall. The figures also revealed 3,030 driving test 'no shows' in the first five months of 2025, resulting in the RSA retaining €257,550 in fees from candidates who failed attend for their appointment. No-show learner drivers can renew their permit annually for a €45 fee so long as they have confirmation that they applied for a test. The RSA received €136,350 in fees for the 3,030 who failed to show for tests between January and May this year. A total of 15,103 learners failed to show for their driving test in 2023 and 2024. Chair of Parc Susan Gray welcomed the improved waiting times. 'It's really good news that a lot of test centres are moving closer to the 10-week average waiting time.' The Minister promised following the group's meeting with him last month that he would commence a 'three strikes and you're off the road' regulation for learner drivers once the 10-week waiting time target was met. Mr Canney has told media the new regulation could come in as early as September 1st. Ms Gray said this would mean 'learners on their third permit who don't turn up for their test will not be issued with a fourth and will have to sit the test', she said. This has been a serious loophole in the regulations going back to 2013 'where learner drivers can continually renew their permit each year without sitting a driving test'. In Tallaght there were 227 no-shows in the first five months of this year, about 45 each month. 'That's the equivalent of a tester sitting twiddling their thumbs for more than a week every month, when they are already being paid to work overtime and weekends,' Ms Gray said.
Irish Times
11-06-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
Driving testers working evenings, weekends and bank holidays to clear backlog, RSA says
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) is 'steadfast in its dedication' to lower the average waiting time for a driving test to 10 weeks by September, its chief executive told the Oireachtas Committee on Transport this morning. Sam Waide recognised the 'ongoing frustration' felt by the public on this issue and said it 'is not a situation that any of us consider acceptable'. Last week, the average waiting time to secure a test was 19.7 weeks, a slight drop from a May figure of 20.6 weeks, itself a notable decrease from 27 weeks in April this year. Recognising this goal as 'ambitious', he and fellow RSA representatives said they were 'very confident' it would be achieved due to the 'largest ever recruitment exercise in the history of the RSA' since its foundation in 2006. READ MORE [ About 600 learners fail to show for driving tests each month – RSA Opens in new window ] With a recruitment drive that aims to have 200 trained testers working full-time by September, an increase from the current figure of 152, testers have also been working extended hours and across different testing centres. RSA chief operations officer Brendan Walsh said testers are now working evenings and weekends, including bank holidays. He said 700 driving tests took place on the Monday of the June bank holiday weekend. They 'are working under significant pressure', however, the goal to increase supply is 'not just a target but a national imperative for the RSA', Mr Waide said. The organisation conducted 157,183 driving tests in 2021, which rose to 253,850 in 2024. Mr Waide cited growing population, delayed demand from the pandemic , and lack of rural public transport as causes for this 61 per cent increase. The RSA will soon be in a position to accommodate up to 360,000 tests a year, Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy said, when accounting for each tester conducting up to eight tests a day. Mr Murphy said 'we should be able to bring the waiting list significantly lower' than 10 weeks under these circumstances. However, Mr Walsh said 'I don't think it would be right from a driver education perspective [ ...] for someone to get a test in a week'. Fellow Fine Gael TD Emer Currie said people continuously not attending their driving test appointments is an 'extremely serious issue' which affects the availability of tests for others. [ Driving test logjam: how to beat the long waiting times Opens in new window ] Mr Walshe said 56,000 people are 'on three or more [learner's] permits' after failing to show up for their test, with 'a handful' of drivers on more than 10. Three hundred and seventy thousand people have a learner's permit in Ireland currently. The RSA also holds responsibility for the National Care Testing (NCT) service. The average national waiting time for an NCT assessment was 14 days last week, however the RSA expects to lower this to 12 days by the end of this month. There are currently 50 NCT testing centres across the State, with 'expansion to additional locations actively under way'.
Irish Times
05-06-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
Driving test times fall after measures put in place
A fall in the average national waiting time for a driving test to just under 21 weeks has been described by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) as 'encouraging early progress'. The average wait was 20.6 weeks as of May 31st, down from 21.4 the previous week, which the RSA said was 'significantly ahead of the forecasted 25 weeks'. It said the reduction reflected the 'pace and focus' with which the RSA had been implementing targeted measures outlined in an action plan. The plan, published last month after the average wait reached 27 weeks at the end of April, aims to reach its service-level agreement target of 10 weeks by early September. READ MORE That move followed meetings with Minister of State for Transport Seán Canney and repeated criticism in recent years over the backlogs, with 100,000 learners waiting last month. The waiting time for those booking a driving test varies significantly when broken down by centre, with Tallaght currently having the longest estimated wait of 36 weeks. Once a learner receives an invitation to book a test, they then choose from appointment slots over the following three to five weeks, according to the RSA. [ Driving test logjam: how to beat the long waiting times Opens in new window ] Learner drivers hoping to book a test in Navan , Co Meath, face a wait of 32 weeks, according to RSA estimates. The centre in Charlestown, north Dublin currently has the shortest estimated wait at nine weeks, followed by Donegal at 12 weeks. Measures announced under the action plan include new driving test centres in key areas, which the RSA said are in the final stages of the contracting process. A spokeswoman said the RSA was not yet in a position to confirm the exact locations of these new centres, 'but it's our hope to have these operational within the coming weeks'. The time during which tests take place has been extended from 7.25am to 7pm for the last three weeks, while staff worked during the recent bank holiday weekend, when more than 700 tests were scheduled. While there is still a 'considerable journey ahead' to reach the 10-week service-level agreement, Brendan Walsh, the RSA's chief operations officer said: 'We are encouraged by the early indicators of progress.'
